


The Third Treasure

by dogmatix



Category: Juuni Kokki | Twelve Kingdoms, Merlin (BBC)
Genre: Crossover, Emotional Growth, Female Protagonist, GFY, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-10-20
Updated: 2012-10-20
Packaged: 2017-11-16 15:53:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/541217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dogmatix/pseuds/dogmatix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Driven near madness by her Seer powers, Morgana must lose herself before she can find herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Third Treasure

_A Beach  
Kingdom of Kei_

 

Morgana lay on the sandy beach as the nameless stars above her faded into dawn. The surf murmured to itself, not touching her where she lay at the storm-tide line of seaweed and scattered debris.

She moaned softly, curling herself smaller into her tattered, salt-stiffened dress, hair a wild and matted halo on the damp sand. She moaned again, distressed. From the depths of her mind skirled glimpses of horrific sights, monsters and demons that ripped and tore at her, a man laughing in vicious glee as her arm burned, and screaming, screaming always screaming. Then out of the confusion rose a blur of red, a demon, sword at the ready, rushing towards her with deadly speed and murderous intent, sword rising as she _screamed_ -

Morgana scrambled upright, stumbling over the yielding tilt of sand. She looked around jerkily, almost sobbing, only calming down once it sank in that she was alone. The waves crashed gently, and a morning breeze tugged playfully at her hair. She stared blankly at the strange landscape around her. She’d been in a forest the night before, not anywhere near the ocean, although she couldn’t remember much more than that. Something about attacking Arthur…

Dazed and shaken, she ventured into the woods behind her.

***

_Some months later  
Outside a Cave in Ei Province, Kingdom of Kei_

 

“Your majesty.”

Nakajima Youko, King of Kei, slid nimbly off her demon’s back. Kantai, her General of the Left, also dismounted from his steed, and the villagers bowed low to their king and her general.

Youko swallowed a sigh and bent to touch the headman’s shoulder. Sure her first official act had been to revoke the practice of prostration, but her people still felt more comfortable bowing deeply to her, especially the peasants. “Headman Sou, you told my court you had a dangerous _kaikyaku_ near your village?”

“Yes, yes indeed your majesty,” the fretful man nodded jerkily, “right, right in that cave, your majesty,” he pointed at the yawning darkness that led into a large cavern. “But, but your majesty, didn’t you- I mean, I assumed, er. You’re here alone?”

No doubt he’d assumed that she’d send some royal guards, if anyone. He certainly hadn’t been prepared to receive his king in the flesh. Not that she looked much like a king right now. Except for her distinctive red mane of hair, she’d blend easily into any group of villagers, dressed as she was in drab clothing, hair done up in a simple high ponytail.

Kantai rumbled a laugh behind her. “Hardly ‘alone,’ little man, and we can take care of ourselves.”

Kantai was certainly impressive enough. He was as large as a bear, for one, and sometimes he literally _was_ a bear, for another. Youko grinned and patted the headman’s shoulder. “Thank you for your concern, but we’ll be fine.” 

She turned to Kantai, who grinned back. She drew her sword and gestured at the mouth of the cave. “After you, general.”

She wanted to go first, but Keiki and the rest of her friends had finally gotten it through her thick skull that she was important to her kingdom, and shouldn’t risk herself lightly by running repeatedly and head-first into danger. Coup notwithstanding. And there had been the small matter of a rebellion, but she hadn’t gone _looking_ for that. At first. Keiki was even now having a very dignified conniption fit about her going after a _kaikyaku_ almost alone. The headman had claimed the foreigner was dangerous, maybe demonic, but Youko wasn’t convinced. There were plenty of things back in Japan that would seem like magic to the people of Kei; hopefully that was the case here.

Kantai lit a torch and held it up in the gloom of the cave. Sword in his other hand, he led the way.

At first Youko could see nothing, but gradually her eyes adapted and she began to make out vague shapes. The floor was uneven, and dipped down at a gentle angle, leading Youko and Kantai into a gentle turn that soon blocked off the light from the entrance. Still Youko saw only rocks – silent shapes that moved only with the flickering torchlight – and then something glinted. Something metallic.

Youko tapped Kantai on the elbow to stop, then approached the shape cautiously. Kantai’s hand came down firmly on her shoulder, but she only lifted an eyebrow at his disapproving frown. They could see the huddled form now, slumped in exhaustion into a huddled ball.

Youko thought it might be a woman. Man or woman though, it didn’t look like the person was dangerous, and Youko sheathed her sword as she bent down. Long black hair fell in lank strands over bare, filthy arms, and one hand clutched desperately at a round metallic object – a mirror – even in sleep. But there was something wrong with the hand - it seemed darker than even dirt could account for. Youko frowned, leaning in to get a better look. She hissed in shock – the hand was discoloured because the mirror’s leather strap was corded so tightly around the woman’s wrist that it was severely cutting off her circulation, turning her hand dark and puffy. Youko was amazed that the woman could still grasp the mirror, and she obviously needed immediate medical atten-

The woman’s eyes flew open and locked onto Youko, widened. The woman screamed, panicked and hoarse, and her dark irises _burned_ gold. A force like a strong wind or a giant hand _shoved_ at Youko, flinging her back into a lucky catch by Kantai.

The torch dropped as he caught her, and drunken shadows rose on the cave walls as the woman scrambled to get away, still screaming and clutching the mirror tightly.

“Wait!” Youko called, pushing away from Kantai.

“Your Majesty, no!”

But Youko ignored him in favour of tackling the woman to the ground. The woman’s screams became even more frantic as she thrashed, and Youko just caught the glint of gold in panicked eyes. She clung like a limpet as the strong wind-that-wasn’t shoved hard at her.

Youko grunted as an elbow caught her on the cheek and grabbed hold of the woman’s hair at the scalp, then brought her head down sharply on the stone floor of the cave.

The almost animalist screams hiccupped and stopped. Kantai dropped to his knees at Youko’s side just as the woman’s eyes slid dazedly shut and her body went limp. She hoped she hadn’t hit the woman’s head too hard – it was difficult to judge head blows – but trying to talk her down hadn’t seemed like a viable option.

“You really are supposed to let _me_ do the dangerous things,” Kantai reprimanded, “Keiki’s going to have my hide for this.”

Youko massaged her abused cheekbone. “No he won’t, kirin don’t like bloodshed,” she pointed out the obvious, avoiding the subject of her lack of sense. She’d become a warrior before she’d taken up her crown, and old habits died hard. She checked the woman’s pulse, and found it worryingly weak, though whether from the head blow or a pre-existing condition was impossible to tell.

“Keiki doesn’t need to resort to anything as crass as violence, you know, he’ll just give me more paperwork,” Kantai grunted as he picked the woman up, cradling her like a child. “Ending up as a bearskin rug might be better. It’d certainly be quicker!”

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from the three Japanese treasures - sword, magatama, mirror. Nakajima has a sword and healing crystal ball (which kinda stands in for the magatama, a figure '9' shaped bead, and the 'tama' kanji also means 'ball', so). Technically the sword also counts as a mirror in Twelve Kingdoms, but I'm using an actual mirror here for it, because it fit so well.
> 
> Also, sorry for skimping on Morgana's journey through the 12 Kingdoms, but if I did that I'd bog down and never finish this.
> 
> I'm not planning on any pairings, but if any crop up they'll probably be f/f.


End file.
